The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1887-10-23
BUILDING BY MACHINERY.
NOW MODERN METHODS SUBORDINATE
HANDS TO WHEELS AND BELTG

aud Vet Up Whsreyer Wanted-Ths Ter-
perary Rage fer Wood Decoration.
Somewhere among the Stones Of Venice"
Mr.. John Ruskin discovered the idea that mod.
ern workmen arc Dissatisfied with their con-
dition because they are dissatisfied with their
work. Tho introduction Of machinery has dis.
pensed with the use Of the inventive faculties.
Men, instead Of using their handle for the OK.
preston OF their ideas, have become only ma
chines tending machines, the inanimate work.
man demanding almost as much thought In
tho performance OF it's task as It's helper.
Perhaps Mr.. Ruskin is In part right, but he
cannot be altogether right. Tho hod carriers Of
Venice would have sighed for q modern steam
engine to operate one Of those swift devices
which we SEQ springinR from the ground to the
capstone OF O ten-story building. loaded with
the material needed for the mason. And whe
OF all the laborers who wrought upon tho
Ducal Palace would not have welcomed tho
modern agencies for swinging stones into po-
sition whore all the muscular cooperation
needed con be furnished by q hand hardly
heavier than the hand Of q childf Bee the
arches and pinnacles Of st. Patrick's CATH strd
day by day nearly springing toward the clouds.
WHILE almost invisibly. tho workmen direct
the silent magician by which the chief labor 10
performed. It was not SO when st. Marks
climbed painfully above the waters Of the We
nitian Sea.
Very little. after all, except the merely me.
chancal work can be done by machinery.
Wherever touch Of true art Is required the
practised eye ara the trained hand arc still
omnipotent and to the extent that any handi.
craft labor can be performed by machinery It
may may be spared from the list OF arts that have
leS Stl compensation for bis toll.
ent from those Which marked The the career career
% fnS %hoR h aq Byyusau her aoe &c
natSsamSe; FeT arts f. have been more radi-
more stabbornly than the carpenter; but ale
arc 'i now manufactured in factories and then
position; The mon who SGT them ppa are stu
tained. 1hey would Be better classiis s1! were
Seg ars mot
pointer has become machine. and though this
equally true that all the interior fittings. whnt
buildings, are factory made. and delivered
ready to be placed upon the walls or wherever
they may be needed.
change was found n the sash and blind fac.
tory. In the beginning these. factories pro-
SSs ths pon sRe
ration, and finally entire balpstrades and the
covered that the whole art Of cabinetms kina
could be converted into an architectural art,
20 bad Ts vas
t1s sye q
nj hOneaa
choice woods in the interiors. In fact We arc
masons who, on frame buildings, formerly
worked mainly indoors, haying been bsnished
to as o shsoas ao I shs the snow w Room Of factor,
erected for the production Of interior fittings
for dwellings. or rather for the constructlon Of
varied exhtbition; Manteis Of every conceive
Ss S1 the vses Be qsS to
are set up for examination. They lack no ele'
ment Of completeness either In the mantel.
to choose your model. and It will be sent homo
90 ana aoor CASINOS may be also
selected from the specimens before you, and
sad AZ ssrn saS q
every style Of turning Indeed. II you arc
pushed for an architect. you may be carried to
cornices. balconies. capitals. columns. bsseS.
plinths, and so upward and downward to thu
hss not Is 81 %o
house fitting establishments are apt to be
either the manufacturers or the agents Of the
marble, stone slate q iron: They win never
In the delugs Of wood interiors that has
swept over the country since the introduction
Si ma q IN house building. .hs rye
struggle. and they stand their ground 50 well
that 1t Is to 20 suspected that they vii soGn
finest houses in New York are at present being
rior DECORATIONS to correspond The marbles
been quite driven from the, field. They relR4
by proxy in slate g material made by chemical
great variety Of eoiors, and offered In the mar.
ket at q price that challenges rivalry from
s any 9 p6sest material s,sS 2
nished at about $40 each. 30 long as this d
own against its more innammsble rival. .Ths
Endolithic marble has also entered the field az
e Is tn whte mot ma az
ored by o process whom. desired. through the
entire substance. in perfect Imitation p any
modsrn art has sS = sr ssae Sus
amber. and notified tints, and picture paint.
Sd s wOas g. @
to say that wood, which Is Of beet . very per.
ishable material and entirely united for any
thing but the commonest forms OF art, can
permanently hold its own, against such . for:
both painting and sculpture.
But in the mean time the woodworkers are
making the most OF their advantages. It ID
underwood in the best factories that carving
alone is relied upon when It is desired 70 rep.
resent vines, flowers, or any more ambitious
objects OF decorative art. But something sug.
gestiye Of carved mopldings arc produced 81
Turning and quarterinR; and In some OF the
pected 70 take the lead N everything
tation OF all possible designs In bas relief.
Their work is produced. however, by em-
bossing on thin piece Of veneer. the impres.
s slSn being aftsrwsrd backed by solid wood,
of elaborate cheapness through which we arc
passing. nor even take a place among the best
specimens of interior decoration In wood. Il
may be said. In general terms. that the ma
chine reaches it's limit as contributor to
architecture at the point where the sculptor
becomes the companion OF tho architect
There Is an economic as well as an artistic
side to the art Of machine building, and from
the economic side 1t can be studied only TO be
commanded 1t is enabling us to build well